Please click on the thumbnails of each monument to view a full-size photograph of it.

House 1: Last House

Last House was named for its position at the end of the house row. In the 1878 Dawson photograph a type 1 house frame is shown with the frontal pole lying in the grass nearby. Shortly thereafter a new type 2 house was built by another family further back on the same site (see House 2).

House 3: Eagle House

Eagle House may have been the name of an earlier house on this site, since Swanton’s informants claim it had an eagle over the door instead of a frontal pole. By 1878, a house with a frontal pole stood on the site.

G.M. Dawson, 1878 (PAC 242).

Frontal Pole 3 is on the left. Photograph by Werner, 1904 (SLUW).

Frontal Pole 3

Crests on the frontal pole:

1. (top) three watchmen

2. eagle

3. small killer whale with protruding dorsal fin and a small human figure with potlatch cylinder holding the tail

4. owl

5. grizzly bear holding a frog

Photograph by G.M. Dawson, 1878 (PAC 242).

Photograph by C.F. Newcombe, 1902 (Enlargement of RBCM E284-IV/39).

Mortuary 3X.

This was a mortuary post erected for “Water”; the front plaque shows traces of paint in Dawson’s 1878 photograph. The post had a raven carved at the top and a killer whale below.

Mortuary 4X

House 5: House-hole House

House-hole House was on the site traditionally reserved for the town chief’s house. A house of this importance frequently had several ceremonial names, used as occasion demanded. Among those recorded for this house site are: Potlatch is Slowly Moving (implying that the house was so large that the potlatch was long); Cave House; Moving across Deep Cellar.The house pit was large and had several levels, as befitted a chief of Klue’s standing.

G.M. Dawson, 1878 (PAC 242).

Frontal Pole 5A

Crests on the original frontal pole:

1. (top) three watchman figures

2. series of twelve potlatch cylinders with three human figures clinging to each side, and White Raven (story figure) on top

3. Qingi (story figure) wearing a hat decorated with three frogs and holding a small bear and a human figure

Frontal Pole 5b is the tall pole on the right side of the photograph. Photograph by Werner, 1904 (SLUW).

Frontal Pole 5B

Crests on the replacement frontal pole:

1. (top) White Raven

2. series of nineteen potlatch cylinders with a human figure on top and four human figures clinging to each side

3. Qingi wearing a hat decorated with three frogs and holding a small bear and a human figure

4. raven with a long, projecting beak

Photograph by unknown photographer, 1907 (BCA 13754).

Photograph by C.F. Newcombe, 1902 (RBCM E284-IV/39).

Memorial 5M1

This memorial, erected shortly after 1878, depicted the story of a dogfish with the beak of a thunderbird. A tall rectangular shaft above the head of the dogfish represented its body, and a small raven was perched on the top. The memorial was raised by the wife of the former town chief in his memory. In accordance with Haida custom, she joined the family of the new chief as one of his wives.

G.M. Dawson, 1878 (PAC 242).

Memorial 5M2

A memorial with a beaver at the base and twelve potlatch cylinders above was erected before 1878 in memory of an earlier Gitkun who was killed at Fort Rupert. One of his coppers was nailed to the pole just above the beaver.

House 6: Sea Lion House

Sea Lion House was named, according to Swanton, from the house pole, but more likely it was named for the mortuary beside it, which had at the top a sea lion helmet.

C.F. Newcombe, 1907.

Frontal Pole 6

Crests on the frontal pole:

1. (top) three watchmen

2. eagle

3. bear holding a frog in its mouth

4. supernatural snag holding a raven with an inverted human figure in its beak

5. whale

G.M. Dawson, 1878.

C.F. Newcombe, 1907.

Mortuary 6X1

A mortuary was erected here for a member of Those Who are Successful Fishermen. On the front plaque was a supernatural snag, and on the post a thunderbird. In the 1878 photograph it appears to be newly erected.

G.M. Dawson, 1878 (PAC 242).

Mortuary 6X2

This old mortuary post was built for a member of Those Who are Successful Fishermen. It was an unusual style of mortuary with no front plaque. The dimensions of the post suggest that a chamber for the coffin was carved out of the top of the post and capped by the sea lion helmet inlaid with abalone shell, followed by a cumulous cloud (in human form), and, at the base, a supernatural snag holding a bear.

Photograph by G.M. Dawson, 1878 (PAC 242).

Carmichael, 1901 (Enlargement of RBCM E435-IV/69).

Mortuary 6X3

This old mortuary was erected for an earlier Skitgades. On the front plaque was the beak of a small bird, possibly a hummingbird, which was one of his crests. On the post was a thunderbird at the top and a killer whale at the base. The double dorsal fins of the supernatural killer whale appeared above the front plaque.

Carmichael, 1901 (RBCM E435-IV/69).

C.M. Barbeau, 1947 (CMC 102746).

Memorial 6M1

This memorial, erected after 1878, was for the mother of the last Skitgades. On the top of the plain pole were a thunderbird and a whale.

Carmichael, 1901 (Enlargement of RBCM E435-IV/69).

G.M. Dawson, 1878 (PAC 242).

Memorial 6M2

Similar to 6M1, this old memorial was erected by the mother of the last Skitgades.

G.M. Dawson, 1878 (PAC 242).

Manda 6MA1

On the ground was a beaver figure of the manda type to hold the coffin of an earlier Skitgades during its temporary storage in the mortuary house. It shows only in the 1878 Dawson photograph.

C.F. Newcombe, 1902 (BCPM E232).

Manda 6MA2

This memorial, a rare type, was similar to a manda since it rested on the ground. Erected after 1878 for a brother of Skitgades who drowned while hunting fur seal, it depicted a thunderbird clutching a whale.

House 14: Easy to Enter House

Frontal Pole 14

According to Newcombe the exterior of the house was named separately for each side, one side bearing the name Landslide House and the other Land Otter House. At the back of the house was an interior pole that belonged to the wife and employed the crests of the chief’s family of Skedans, having a sea grizzly at the top and a grizzly bear at the base. A long carved spiral stick like a narwhal tusk was originally inserted in the pole between the two figures; it was used by the chief at potlatches and feasts to strike the ground for emphasis during his speeches. This pole was purchased from Paul Jones of Skidegate and sent by Newcombe to the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. It was subsequently sold. The talking stick is still in the Field Museum.

House 14A: The House Pole Looks Down

The House Pole Looks Down stood on higher ground on the boundary between the two segments of the village. The frontal pole disappeared long ago, but other features of the house are well preserved as a result of its sheltered position away from the beach.

Frontal Pole 15

This pole was taken to Prince Rupert in 1939; in 1971 it was transferred to the British Columbia Provincial Museum, Victoria.

C.F. Newcombe, 1907 (BCA 13755).

Photographer and year unknown (CMC J-10396).

Mortuary 15X

This mortuary post was erected for a woman of the Djigua town People who was shot while passing the San Juan Islands. Her body was burnt and taken back to Tanu. On the front plaque is a thunderbird, and standing over it is a separate carving of an eagle. On the post is the baleen whale at the top and the beaver at the base. This pole was purchased in 1911 by Newcombe for the British Columbia Provincial Museum, Victoria.

House 16: Strong House

Frontal Pole 16

This pole was removed by Newcombe for the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto. It no longer has the owl on top.

C.M. Barbeau, 1947 (CMC 102743).

Memorial 16M

A memorial to “Prince capsized himself” was raised by his brother, Nespalas, who aspired to his brother’s title. At the base is a beaver with a tall column of potlatch cylinders rising above it. A copper was nailed to the first potlatch cylinder.

C.F. Newcombe, 1903 (BCPM E281).

Interior Pole 16

Inside the house were two unusual carved posts, each representing a supernatural snag with potlatch cylinders, which belonged to Naspala’s wife. These were placed at the back of the house under the central pair of rafters. Newcombe purchased both and sent one to the Field Museum of Natural History and the other to the Smithsonian Institution.

House 17: Eagle House

Eagle House was owned by “Like a spine” of the Djigua Town People. His wife was Taoguiat of Those Born at Qadasgo Creek. This house replaced an earlier one called Fort Simpson House, which had figures of white men carved on the two posts nearest the door; it, in turn, replaced a still earlier house of the same name that was stockaded like the Hudson’s Bay Company fort at Fort Simpson.

Photographer and year unknown.

Photographer and year unknown (BM LXXXV1/2).

Frontal Pole 17

Crests on the frontal pole:

1. (top) eagle

2. baleen whale

The pole was sent by Newcombe to the British Museum. The ends of the central beams of the house, carved to resemble sea lions, were sent to the British Columbia Provincial Museum, Victoria.

House 18: House Toward the Water

House toward the Water belonged to the Djigua Town People. The name seems inappropriate to this house, which is in the middle of a house row, no closer to the water than the others. It is either a mismatch of the house name or a traditional name inherited from another house where it was descriptive of the house location.

Photographer unknown, 1907 (BCA 13757).

Frontal Pole 18

Crests on the frontal pole:

1. (top) three watchmen

2. eagle

3. cormorant

4. supernatural snag

5. obscured by vegetation

Photographer unknown, 1907 (BCA 13757).

Memorial 18M

A memorial column, rectangular in cross section, symbolizing a killer whale dorsal fin, is surmounted by a figure of a chief with a tall hat, on which sat a separate carving of a raven holding a copper.